Saturday Night Live
- Ahead of Elon Musk's "SNL" hosting debut, tension is reportedly present behind the scenes.
- Several cast members posted criticism on social media at the time of the announcement.
- Reaction to Musk and other guests highlights divisions, according to the New York Post.
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It was recently announced that Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk would be making his hosting debut on "Saturday Night Live" on May 8. The decision apparently caused a disconnect with cast members, who took to Twitter to express their opinions.
Behind-the-scenes tension is still present in the hours ahead of the show, according to the New York Post. An unnamed industry source who said they know the show intimately told the outlet the new cast "are getting a little too big for their britches."
The criticism from cast members came after the announcement that Musk would host the show. The CEO then tweeted: "Let's find out just how live Saturday Night Live really is."
American actor and cast member on "SNL", Bowen Yang, replied: "What the f-k does this even mean?" but then later deleted his tweet. Aidy Bryant also deleted a post that took a swipe at Musk.
But the source added that guests can "tweet and do whatever they want on social media … they weren't told to take down their messages."
"If they were elsewhere, they would have been suspended [for tweeting], but they can do whatever they want. [Producer Lorne Michaels] has never said to anybody they have to turn up for a show," said the industry source, in reference to the cast.
As Insider previously reported, cast members were told they won't be forced to act alongside Musk if they don't want to. But no cast members have pulled out of the show yet.
Opinions on guests are not only limited to Musk, however. It was also revealed to the Post that cast members were unhappy with country music star, Morgan Wallen, when he made his "SNL" debut in December. This came two months after he was disinvited from the show for breaking the show's quarantine rules.
But the industry source added that, ultimately, Michaels is the man in charge: "Not everyone [on the show] agrees about what is funny or who should host, but Lorne is the decision-maker and the buck stops with him."
"None of the original cast were exactly shrinking violets … if Bill Murray or John Belushi had social media back then, they would not be afraid to express their opinions," the source added.